Deported Palestinians arrive in exile

Forty Palestinians freed as part of prisoner swap by Israel for Gilad Shalit arrive in Qatar, Turkey, Jordan and Syria.

Forty Palestinians freed by Israel under a prisoner swap deal with Hamas but deemed to be too dangerous by that country to be allowed to return to Palestine have arrived in Qatar, Turkey, Jordan and Syria.

The prisoners were released as part of an exchange on Tuesday that involved the release of 477 Palestinian prisoners for the freeing of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was captured by Hamas more than five years ago.

A total of 1,027 Palestinians will be released as part of the swap, the initiation of which led to widespread celebrations in both Palestine and Israel.

Of the 40 prisoners sent into exile, 15 went to Damascus, Syria, 11 to Ankara, Turkey, one to Amman, Jordan and the rest to Qatar.

"No words can describe my feelings," said Mohammed Wael, who was to serve a sentence of more than 1,600 years for his involvement in suicide attacks, after his arrival in Doha, the Qatari capital.

"It's a historic moment. Not returning home leaves a scar, but we consider all Arab countries as our second home. As long as there are prisoners in Israel, the mujahideen will always try to free them."

On her arrival in Amman, Ahlam Tamimi, a former TV reporter who was serving 16 life sentences for assisting suicide attacks, said: "Allah has chosen soldiers for him on this land, and they are the soldiers of the al-Qassam brigades [Hamas' military wing]."

US concern

The US, meanwhile, expressed "concerns" on Tuesday regarding the release of some of the 477 prisoners freed by Israel in the first phase of the prisoner exchange.

"We have looked at some of these individuals and we've communicated our position ... to the Israeli government," Mark Toner, a spokesman for the US state department, said. He declined to elaborate on the nature of those concerns.

He said that the US respected Israel's "sovereign decision" to release the prisoners, but a subsequent statement said that "as a matter of principle, the US opposes the release of individuals who have been convicted of crimes against Americans".

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, saluted the release of Shalit, saying he had been held for "far too long".

The Afghan Taliban also released a statement in response to the prisoner exchange, terming it "the triumph of the will of the Muslim Palestinian nation" and "one of the heaviest blows" to Israel.

Palestinian celebrations

In Palestine, hundreds of thousands of people celebrated the homecoming of the prisoners.

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Hamas, which negotiated the exchange, organised a celebration in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that turned into a show of strength for the Palestinian resistance group that governs the territory and its rival Fatah party.

The joyous crowd crammed into a sandy plot of land, where a huge stage was set up, decorated with a mural depicting the capture of Shalit at an army base near the Gaza border.

Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas official, addressed the crowd that Hamas said numbered more than 200,000, praising the kidnap of Shalit as a positive operation that had won the freedom of hundreds of Palestinians.

"Some described Shalit's captivity as a worthless adventure, but today they are proven wrong," he said

"The people want a new Gilad!" the crowd chanted, suggesting the abductions of Israeli soldiers would mean freedom for thousands more Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

"I will be very happy if all Palestinian prisoners are freed so they can go back to their families [...] I hope this deal could help reach peace between Israelis and the Palestinians and strengthen co-operation," he said.

"Gilad feels well, he suffers a few injuries because of inadequate treatment - the result of shrapnel and also medical conditions related to lack of exposure to sunlight," said Noam Shalit, Gilad's father.

Palestinians have long argued that no peace agreement could be reached without the release of all Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Hamas reached a deal with Israel last week for the release 1,027 prisoners in exchange for Shalit, who was captured in 2006 and has since been held in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian prisoners will be released in two phases.

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